Its all to familiar to the Rays. Almost a mirror image of game one took place at Tropicana Field in Game Two on Thursday afternoon and the Rays now have to hit the “panic button” so to speak.

Another controversial call (or non call) during an at bat and the Rangers now have themselves a two games to none series lead heading to Arlington. From my vantage point Michael Young should have been walking towards the dugout, and he even knows it. Strike three, pure and simple. But in yet another close play it wasn’t deemed a swing, but a ball, which led to good bye Mr. Rawlings and a 5-0 Rays lead. Tampa could use this excuse to explain game two but they won’t, which is the right thing to do. After all the Rays have only been able to muster 1 run and 8 total hits in two games vs Cliff Lee and C.J. Wilson. Going into the series all the talk was about the Rangers bats, now it seems like this series is the coming out party of their pitching.

Without any ounce of offense the Rays have put themselves out of this series. No timely hitting, not much working of the count, no patience and calmness, just a team that looks totally out of sync. Even the ejection of Maddon couldn’t fire up the home team. Bottom line is that the lack of offense from the Rays has led to this series being close to over, however as most people know the last win of a series is the hardest to come by. Texas will be in tough at home on Saturday as the Rays won’t want to go away just yet. If they can keep their poise, and not let what should be an absolutely electric home crowd, get to them they should close the series out this weekend whether it be in game three or four. Either way the Rangers should have the tools to finish off the Rays and give Lee and Wilson a couple more days to get some rest.

GAME 3 – Saturday October 9 @ 5pm EST

Probables: TAM Matt Garza vs TEX Colby Lewis

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Written by George Kouvalis
A huge fan of sports who loves to travel for major events. I've seen my fair share of major games and events including three Olympics, Wimbledon, The Masters etc.... Always up for a road trip or a drink to talk over sports or pro wrestling, in any city I am in or online. Favorite Teams: Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto FC, Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Bulls, San Francisco 49ers, Toronto Argonauts, Manchester United, and of course the teams I blog for, the Texas Rangers and Buffalo Sabres. Follow me on twitter at the handle georgekouvalis